Door retaining unit



March 17, 1970 G. A. KoRKos DOQR RETAINING UNIT Filed Feb. 2e, 196s JNVEA/roe GEoeGEH.Koz/os @w #wf l roe/Veys.

United States Patent O- 3,501,188 DOOR RETAINING UNIT George A. Korkos,1912 Moray Ave., San Pedro, Calif. 90732 Filed Feb. 26, 1968, Ser. No.708,366 Int. Cl. Eb 15/02; E05c 1/04 U.S. Cl. 292-175 4 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relatesgenerally to door closure retention and release, and more specificallyconcerns a particular retainer unit constructed to solve problemsencountered in providing for latching of portable cooler doors hinged atright and left side locations.

Requirements imposed on compact portable coolers or refrigeratorsinclude the use of light weight, inexpensive construction, the provisionof a door that may be hinged at either left or right side locations inorder to accommodate cooler usage in campers or trailers, and theprovision of an inexpensive compact door retainer unit that does notproject outwardly from the door while being mountable and operable ateither right or left side locations, and which will accommodate readyopening and closing of the door as well as fool-proof latching. Itdevelops that the provision of an entirely satisfactory door retainerunit poses the more difficult problem with respect to coolerconstruction. While many efforts have been made in the past toward asolution to this problem, none of these of which I am aware has resultedin a fully satisfactory unit embodying the features of the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a major object of the invention toprovide a solution to the problems outlined above, as well as additionalproblems, through the provision of door retainer unit as will bedescribed. Basically, the unit comprises an `elongated tubular housingadapted to be mounted sidewardly against a support and to be manuallygrasped; a plunger extending lengthwise through the housing andincluding a keeper engaging latch projecting at one end of the housingand a lug projection at the opposite end of the housing, the lug havinga laterally projecting shoulder located to be manually pushed todisplace the plunger in one lengthwise direction in the housing forretracting the latch toward that one end of the housing for releasingthe keeper; and a spring in the housing releasably urging the plunger inthe opposite direction in the housing. As will be seen, the housing andplunger may advantageously have polygonal cross sections, the housingthen having opposite sides with registered openings for receiving afastener or fasteners projecting laterally through the housing andattaching it sidewardly against the support such as a door left or rightvertical side. In this regard, and to facilitate the fastener locationsas described, the plunger typically has a cut-out extendinglongitudinally in the housing to pass the fastener in all plungerpositions. As a result, the retainer is kept compact in relation to thecooler and may be mounted to either side of the door for right or lefthand usage; and while it does not project frontwardly from the door, it

3,501,188 Patented Mar. 17, 1970 ice may easily be operated to unlatchfrom a cooler box mounted keeper.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention include the provisionof a bracket element attached to the housing and extending therein outof registration with the fastener openings to cooperate with the springfor limiting plunger lengthwise movement in the housing; the provisionof a plunger lengthwise cut-out to pass the fastener in all positions ofthe plunger, the bracket having longitudinally spaced flanges in thecut-out and between Which the fasteners project, to gain the compactnessand capacity for left and right side universality of mounting, as willbe seen.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention, as well as thedetails of an illustrative embodiment will be more fully understood fromthe following detailed description of the drawings,`in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. l is a perspective illustrationshowing the door retainer unit as mounted to a door, and holding thedoor closed;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section showing the top plan of theunit of FIG. l;

`FIG. 3 is a side elevational showing of the FIG. 1 unit;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 4 4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view like FIG. 2, but showing application of the same unitto the opposite or left vertical side of the door; and

FIG. 7 illustrates a modified strike.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS and away from the opening at thefront of the box, and

a heat insulative flexible rubber gasket seal or strip 16 is mounted tothe door (or to the box) to seal the gap 17 between the door and box andalso to resiliently space the door and box from each other while thedoor remains closed.

The door retaining unit comprises an elongated tubular housing, as forexample is seen at 19, and which is adapted to be mounted against asupport such as door side 11, so as to be manually grasped as indicatedby the broken line hand 20 of the user. In this regard, the housing ispolygonal, as for example square, in cross section so that it may haveopposite sides 19a and 19b positioned to locate one or more pairs ofregistered openings 21 and 22 for receiving a fastener or fasteners 23projecting laterally through the housing and attaching it sidewardlyagainst the door right side 11. As is clear from FIG. 6, the fastenersmay also be reversed for mounting side 19b of the housing against thedoor left side 11, in case the door is hinge mounted at its right side,the fasteners having mini-mum exposure.

The unit 10 also comprises a plunger 25 extending lengthwise through thehousing and including a keeper engaging latch 26 projecting downwardlyat the lower end of the housing as well as a lug 27 projecting laterallyat the upper end of the housing. The latch has a downwardly andlaterally tapering cam face 28 adapted to engage the upwardly andlaterally tapering cam face 29 of a keeper or strike 30 upon closing ofthe door 12,

3 whereby the latch and plunger are displaced upwardly in the housingand then drop downwardly when the latch overrides the keeper. At thattime, the, the outer face 31 of the latch engages the keeper as seen inFIG. 4, the keeper then holding the latch against outward displacementso that the door is held closed.

The lug 27 has a laterally projecting, downwardly facing shoulder 32located to be manually pushed upwardly (as by the users thumb 63) todisplace the plunger bodily upwardly in the housing for retracting thelatch upwardly toward the lower end of the housing and to the positionindicated by the broken lines at 26a in FIG. 4. In that position, theplunger including the latch are movable outwardly free of the keeper,for opening the door 11. Note in these regards that the plunger 26 has apolygonal (preferably rectangular or square) cross section so as toloosely interfit the housing 19 for being guided upwardly and downwardlytherein without being rotatable in that housing. The latter maytypically be metallic, while the plunger is molded of plastic materialsuch as nylon or Tellon.

It will also be noted that the assembly includes a spring in the housingreleasably urging the plunger downwardly in the housing. Of particularadvantage is the construction of the plunger to accommodate the spring33 and fasteners 23 as well as stops, for the purposes as will beexplained which include extreme compactness facilitating mounting to adoor left or right side. In this regard, the plunger has alongitudinally extending cut-out or side recess 37 to pass the fastenersin all positions of the plunger. The cut-out also receives thecompression spring 33, as well as a U-shaped bracket element 34 whichhas a base 35 screw attached to the housing wall 19c at 36.

Bracket 34 includes a pair of longitudinally spaced flanges 38 and 39projecting toward the interior of the cut-out 37, and respectively aboveand below the fasteners 23. Spring 33 is confined between fixed ange 39and lower interior shoulder 40 of the cut-out so as to urge the plungerdownwardly. Upper flange 38 acts as a stop to limit downward travel ofthe plunger in the position seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, by engagement withupper interior shoulder 41. Accordingly all components are compactlylocated and the housing 19 may be grasped and the plungerthumb-operated, in the right or left door side mounting positions asseen in FIGS. 2 and 6.

Finally, keeper 30 is shown in FIG. 3 as carried on an arm 50 attachedto the box 13 at 51.

In FIG. 7 the modified keeper or strike 60 includes an L-shaped base 61and an L-shaped part 52 mounting a roller 53. An adjustable connection54 between the part 52 and base facilitates adjustment of the rollertoward and away from the door. For example, a lock fastener 55 on part52 may project through a slot in the base 61, to be tightened afteradjustment. Holes 56 and 57 in the base facilitate fastener connectionto the box 13. This arrangement allows for compression adjustment of thegasket 16 between the door and box.

I claim:

1. In a door retaining unit, the combination comprising:

an elongated tubular housing adapted to be mounted sidewardly against asupport and to be manually grasped,

a plunger extending longitudinally through the housing and including akeeper engaging latch projecting at one end of the housing and a lugprojecting at the opposite end of the housing, the lug having alaterally projecting shoulder located to be manually pushed to displacethe plunger in one longitudinal direction in the housing for retractingthe latch toward said one end of the housing for releasing the keeper,

a spring in the housing releasably urging the plunger in the oppositedirection in said housing,

the housing having opposite longitudinally extending sides withlongitudinally spaced pairs of laterally registered openings forreceiving fasteners projecting laterally through the housing from eitherside thereof for attaching the housing against said support, the plungerhaving a longitudinally extending cutout to pass the fasteners in allpositions of the plunger,

and a bracket attached to the housing and being received in said plungercut-out along with said spring, the bracket having spaced anges one ofwhich is located to receive spring loading so that the spring urges theplunger in the opposite longitudinal direction, another flange limitingplunger movement in said opposite direction.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said housing and plunger havematching polygonal cross sections.

3. The combination of claim 2 including said support in the form of adoor having a generally vertical side against which the housing isfastened to extend generally vertically, a box mounting the door, thekeeper on the box and projecting under and in interfering relation tosaid latch.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein the keeper includes a rollerengagable by the latch, the keeper having an adjustment by which theroller is adjustably movable toward and away from the box, there being agasket compressible between the door and box to an extent determined bythe spacing of the roller from the box.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,397,934 11/1921 Posson 292-1751,689,101 10/1928 Beck 292-175 2,676,826 4/1954 Smith 292-175 3,223,44112/ 1965 Odendhal 292-341.18

` FOREIGN PATENTS 1,043,863 11/1958 Germany.

J. KARL BELL, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 292-341.18

